Yager Development has issued a statement saying that conflicting "visions" for Dead Island 2 is what led to its split with Deep Silver, which was unexpectedly announced by the publisher yesterday.

"We work closely with international publishers and partners and have at the same time always remained an independent development studio. Our team is made of the best creative minds and tech specialists who all share a common identity," Yager CEO Timo Ullman said in a statement. "The team worked with enthusiasm to take Dead Island 2 to a new level of quality. However, YAGER and Deep Silver's respective visions of the project fell out of alignment, which led to the decision that has been made."

Ullman said he couldn't comment on the specifics behind the split, but added that for now, the studio will focus its efforts on the capital ship combat simulator Dreadnought. "All I can reveal at this point is that Gamescom will be awesome for Dreadnought," he said.

It's a disappointing outcome. I was really looking forward to a game that kicked off as a bog-standard zombie-killer, but then slowly shifted into something darker around the midway point, before revealing at the denouement that the zombie is you, and that your mission to save humanity was in fact a mass murder spree, unstoppable by the forces of man because you are already dead! And then someone reaches their bloody, mangled hand out to you, and in a last, strangled gasp, whispers, "...Why?"

Roll credits.

There is, at this point, no word as to who will replace Yager on the game.